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Life can be scary, and a lot of times we push certain fears aside just to get through the day. But when those fears show up as undeniable facts, they hit a bit differently. Just like a small fall on the ice can remind you how fragile the human body is, a quiet moment under a sky full of stars can make you suddenly aware of how tiny we are in the universe.
A Reddit user recently opened a discussion on facts that genuinely scare people, and the answers spanned the cosmos, the body and even everyday routines.
We picked the ones that really stood out… see if they get you thinking too.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
We are potentially all alive today because a single Soviet officer second guessed the missile detection system he was operating. The machine threw a warning for 5 nuclear missiles fired from the US that ended up being a false alarm caused by a rare weather event over North Dakota. His name was Stanislav Petrov.
Chich the witch 6 days ago
There was another Soviet officer who stopped a sub from launching nuclear weapons during the Cuban missile crisis, Vasili Arkhipov. Both these guys stopped a potential nuclear war.
RELATED:
#2
One of the most narcissistic imbeciles in the world has access to nuclear launch codes.
Kelly Scott 6 days ago (edited)
But this is the biggest i******e and he thinks he's a president.
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Ian Webling 1 week ago
I feel this comment could be made strong by rephrasing it as "imbecilic narcissists".
Miss Ann Thrope 3 days ago
And he's surrounded by sycophants who won't call him on his imbecility.
Bartlet for world domination 6 days ago
Isn't it weird how Bush Sr. doesn't look so bad in hindsight?
Load More Replies... #3
No one will remember anything about you after you die within a few generations. Certainly after 1000 yrs.
Nothing. All of your actions, your thoughts, dreams...zero.
Meowzers! 1 week ago
When I die there will be no-one to remember me even a year afterwards. I doubt I'll have anyone at my funeral. I have no legacy. No-one to care that I've died. I just hope my pets go before me so they're not alone for months on end until someone thinks to check im still here. In all honesty, I'm not worth remembering.
Auntriarch 1 week ago
I don't know where you live but here in UK we've got The Cinnamon Trust which you can set up to look after your pets if you die before them
Load More Replies... Chich the witch 6 days ago
There will come a time when any knowledge that our species even existed will be forgotten.
Michael Largey 6 days ago
One of the most wonderful - and scariest - things about being a teacher is knowing that things I did will be affecting my students lives long after I'm gone and forgotten.
Billo66 6 days ago
It's been said we die two deaths. The obvious one, and the last time your name is ever mentioned.
YakFactory 3 days ago
I have done a lot of genealogy, and my ancestors include Vikings, Kings, Emperors and so on, going back several thousand years. These people have not died their second death, as they are still remembered.
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Luke || Kira (he/she) 1 week ago
Then do something worth remembering. Of course everyone will forget you if everything you do in life is study, work, reproduce and die.
M M 4 days ago
OP didn't say he/she has a problem with that though, it's just the truth
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Patricia Napolitano 6 days ago
Meowzers, you have no idea the impact your little kindnesses have on strangers. Maybe your name won't be remembered, but your kindness will. You are worth remembering. This time of year does bring up our inner sadness so be kind to yourself.
M M 4 days ago
You just reminded my how one little social thing I did was remembered - soon after I moved to my first apartment I organized a casual tv party for my friends from work. I don't feel good hosting parties but I thought that I should work on it. I also invited the new hire who just moved in to the country. I didn't really keep in touch with him after I changed jobs but years later he invited me to his goodbye party as he was moving to another country again and said that my invitation then was really important for him and he instantly felt welcomed in the new place after arriving. I had no idea for years that it had such a huge impact on him, so Im really proud of it.
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Dane 6 days ago
And why would that fact change how you view life? Why would it matter? Did you make contributions? Did you try to do good? That is all that matters - not whether or not you get "credit" for it! Don't be like DJT!
These facts are not made-up horror stories, yet they are unsettling enough to scare many people. A few of them can also serve as reminders that life is precious and fleeting. Psychologists believe that when we confront the larger truths, it can also push us to start living intentionally and practice mindfulness.
Research suggests that people who strongly believe in something beyond death, such as religion or spirituality, are more likely to say they would “die happy”. In that light, scary facts can also open a door to deeper reflection.
#4
Corpses rot and decay as they get eaten by microbes. These microbes are constantly trying to eat you too, but your immune system is an army of cells inside you playing defense nonstop.
Merry Grinchmas from Grumpy 6 days ago
We, the minds in control of our meat mechas play offense by using soap. Soap naturaly breaks the protective membranes of bacteria. Also Copper and Silver
#5
If you ever want to know what life after death is like, it's the same as life before birth. When you are gone, you are gone.
Norfolk and good 1 week ago
I like to believe that isn't true and as long as I'm not hurting anyone with my belief, then I don't see the problem.
Apatheist 6 days ago
It's the people who do hurt people (eg in Bondi) that are the problem, sadly.
Load More Replies... Luke || Kira (he/she) 1 week ago
Look at this Reddit rando solve the biggest mystery of existence with 100% certainty /s. You don't know what happens until it happens. I personally believe the existence doesn't end, only transforms.
Kid Murray 6 days ago
As you can tell, people like this REALLY p**s me off.
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Billo66 6 days ago (edited)
I like to think this is a test. If we do well, we get our own universe to control. If not, we are recycled back through the system until we get it right. I'm buckled up for another ride because I already know I messed up this one lol. They're bringing me back as a Dung Beetle named Sisyphus next time.
Serena Myers 6 days ago
I'll be the dung ball you roll up.My name is Nota füć kin'g Ain.
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Detroit Citizen 6 days ago
I realized (heard or read about {cant remember} ) that people are afraid to die alone. What stuck out to me was, we all die alone. Its a singular experience that we are all destined to do. It may be an odd take, but i find it comforting knowing this now. Why be scared? Its gonna happen to all of us and in the end you are alone in that moment. Now what happens after, no one knows, no one has come back to tell us. Ive heard everything from nothingness like the OP post, or heaven or reincarnation. To each their own. I kinda believe that we ascend to a higher plane of existence (stargate sg1 lol, iykyk). Ancient Egyptians used to say death is only the beginning. And knowing we are destined for the same fate, does mean in a sense we are not alone. Kinda profound and deep, i have too much free time lol
Miss Ann Thrope 3 days ago
Nope. Many, many people have pre-life memories, past life memories, and NDEs. We just come into this world with a blank slate because remembering would be too overwhelming.
#6
One of the few absolutes in medicine is that no person born blind has developed schizophrenia.
UnclePanda 1 week ago (edited)
There are no absolute statements about human beings, including this one. I took a convenient sample of recent research and the purported direct connection is not being supported by research but there were several that suggested they are both correlated with a deeper issue. It remains under active research at this time.
A study published by Peleskova et al. (2024) shows that “the strongest fear is triggered by modern threats (electricity, car accidents), while the highest disgust is evoked by ancient threats (body waste products, worms, etc.)”. It proves that fear is deeply rooted in survival mechanisms.
Thinking about our mortality or the unknown universe is scary but experts say that we need to recognize which of these thoughts are important and which ones can quickly turn harmful.
As psychiatrist Alex Dimitriu, MD, puts it, “imagination is a super‑power, until it goes dark” and truly some of the facts here have the power to flip that switch.
#7
If you lay all the veins in your body from end to end, you'd probably die.
Merry Grinchmas from Grumpy 6 days ago
Xerxes actually did this to people, and the Chinese really did Death by a Thousand Cuts. My favorite is Scaphism, another Persian invention
Load More Replies... #8
A bear can run 35 MPH for 30 mins. I live 12 miles from a zoo. If the bear takes the freeway, it could be at my house in under an hour.
#9
Healed wounds are held together by collagen, your body’s natural glue. The collagen needs to be regularly replenished, so your body constantly makes more and uses it to keep your scars glued closed. Collagen also keeps your teeth glued into your mouth.
If you have Scurvy you stop producing collagen. Your wounds reopen and your teeth fall out.
Eat your greens, kids.
Tucker Cahooter 1 week ago
That's why I always ask if the cruise ship I want to go on has a good supply of limes and that passengers won't be subsisting on just salted pork
Rafael 1 week ago
Collagen keeps EVERYTHING glued together, not just old scars. Just happens thar there's more collagen "layers" on scar tissue than in normal tissue, so they fail first. Death occurs before the rest collapses.
Sue User 1 week ago
Unless you have autoimmune.There it slowly destroys, then death.
Load More Replies... #10
When you start showing symptoms for Rabies, its too late to get the cure and you're going to die. Such an evil disease, and you wouldn't even know you have it until its too late.
Mimi M 6 days ago
As of 2016, 14 people were documented to have survived rabies after symptoms showed.
General Anaesthesia 3 days ago
60,000 to 70,000 die each year. What are the odds of survival?
Load More Replies... Serena Myers 6 days ago
Milwaukee project, Joanna Giese. Apparently others, mostly from India, who often had partial or delayed treatment, but they developed antibodies. Most had significant neurological issues, but sometimes with good recovery. Not posting the link because BP thinks links are naughty!
David Paterson 1 week ago
I'm old enough to remember a time when rabies was statistically "the rarest of the once common diseases". That was before it re-invaded Europe and America.
Merry Grinchmas from Grumpy 6 days ago
Malaria kills rabies and syph and they give it to you in a hospital and keep you alive and suffering while it does its thing
These facts are not made-up horror stories, yet they are unsettling enough to scare many people. A few of them can also serve as reminders that life is precious and fleeting. Psychologists believe that when we confront the larger truths, it can also push us to start living intentionally and practice mindfulness.
Research suggests that people who strongly believe in something beyond death, such as religion or spirituality, are more likely to say they would “die happy”. In that light, scary facts can also open a door to deeper reflection.
#11
You know how if you take a deep breath and jump into a body of water, the air in your lungs makes you float to the surface?
Yeah so somewhere between 30-50 feet under, this no longer happens. You just sink.
#12
There is a spooky skeleton inside of you right now!
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
The average number of skeletons inside people is slightly above one per person.
Auntriarch 1 week ago
Thank goodness for that, otherwise you'd be carrying me round in a bucket
Luke || Kira (he/she) 1 week ago
Doctor, holding an X-ray: "Exactly what I'm afraid of..." Patient: "What? What is it?" Doctor: "A skeleton."
#13
A stroke can happen at anytime and to anyone.
There are risk factors, of course. But everyone is at risk.
Rick Murray 1 week ago
Ditto heart attack, aneurysm, anaphylactic shock (from something you were never allergic to before), etc etc. It is *possible* and it *happens*, but unless there's a specific history (in the family) or underlying health issues (in you), I wouldn't lose too much sleep over it.
#14
You don't realize just how fragile you are. One wrong car accident, and you've lost your ability to walk, or worse. And that car accident could be unavoidable because it's out of your control.
One bad trip/fall, and you have to be stationary for a week, or a month, or longer. And then you'll need physical rehab.
You may not know it, but an aneurysm or a blood clot to the heart may be right around the corner, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.
If you went swimming once in a lake with friends, you may have some sort of illness or amoeba that is now a death sentence.
You're fragile. You're breakable. It'd be so easy for you to be bed ridden, be paralyzed, be stricken blind, deaf, and dumb. The world is dangerous, and every day you expose yourself to it.
Have a good day! (:.
UnclePanda 1 week ago (edited)
When I broke my leg, several people said, "You've just kissed six months of your life goodbye." They were right - it took about that long before I was back to 'normal' and my memories of that six months are very scattered and hazy.
Emilu 6 days ago
I broke my ankle in February 2024 (trimal break; three bones). It still gives me grief even now. Looking back, I have no idea how I got through it without throttling someone. Kinda off-topic, but I remember in the hospital I'd buzzed for a nurse to help me to the bathroom and I didn't get a response for over two hours, so I tried making my own way there with the IV pole. Bad idea; those things tip. I fell and, though it wasn't officially diagnosed as such, quite likely re-broke something as I needed surgery to reset a break that had moved. You don't realise how much you take for granted until you don't have it.
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WalterWhiteSavannah 6 days ago
Working in Healthcare really drove home how fortunate I've been through being hit by a bus, a solid dozen really bad bike crashes (or potentially bad but miraculously barely even hurting me at all) not too mention a giant number of idiotic things I did between like 5 and 25.
pOtAtO kNiShEs 6 days ago
The sister of a friend of mine died in a car crash a couple days ago. It was horrible, stay safe pandas.
Emilu 6 days ago
Oh god. I'm so sorry too. I hope you're doing as well as you can be, and echoing to fellow Pandas; please stay safe.
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Laserleader 6 days ago
A old co-worker at a preschool vanished from the public, and I found out years later she had been taking Christmas ornaments from the attic and tripped on the stairs, was immobilized from the shoulders down.
Rick Murray 1 week ago
We humans are the crazies inhabiting a small déath world. To us, this is normal. To every other lifeform in the universe: AVOID!
WalterWhiteSavannah 6 days ago (edited)
Earth is harmless. Actually after years of research it's been revised - "mostly harmless."
Load More Replies...While some of these facts may shock us and others might fade from memory, they might also open a door to wonder. Realizing we are a part of this big beautiful Universe, and confronting these truths, can give us a deeper sense of meaning.
As Dr Jesse Preston, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick, believes: "Science can be a powerful source of awe and wonder for many… It can foster a sense of connection to others and our place in the world.”
#15
Everybody was taking pictures of the pretty aurora's as far south as northern Florida last week. Not too many realize that if they sky gets colorful enough, all modern electronics including the electrical grid will fail, and there is no backup plan to get it functioning again before society collapses.
Rick Murray 1 week ago
Aurora down to Florida? Well, okay. Was it happening in Europe? China? Any part of the southern hemisphere? The country/countries directly affected may suffer, perhaps greatly, and others may suffer as a side effect. But it won't be a societal collapse except in the places directly affected if it is catastrophically mismanaged (namely when people run out of food).
Chich the witch 6 days ago
Read up on Miyaki events. One would send us all back to living in the 1700s. Keep those cooperage, blacksmithing and animal husbandry skills sharp!
Load More Replies... #16
One small medical emergency and I could be bankrupt for the rest of my life.
Lotekguy 6 days ago (edited)
These days, we're only free to agree with the powers that be.
Load More Replies... WalterWhiteSavannah 6 days ago
If I was born an hour South id have millions in medical debt I could never come close to repaying. Or I'd be dead. 'murica! Thank God I was born in Canada.
#17
There are more trees on Earth (about 3 trillion) than there are stars in the Milky Way (100–400 billion)
But there are more viruses on Earth (roughly 10³¹) than there are stars in the entire observable universe (about 10²⁴).
You’re basically a walking meat spaceship covered in an invisible ocean of creatures that could end you in days if your immune system ever takes a coffee break.
Night night.
Luke || Kira (he/she) 1 week ago
And what if our observable universe is a body of some unfathomable being and we're just microbes to it?
Lavender Myst 1 week ago
Like the eye of a blue-eyed giant named Macomber... heh.
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#18
You've already eaten lots of micro plastic today.
Billo66 1 week ago
They do recycle outdated and unsold food into animal feed. The particular plant I saw throws the recycled food into the grinder, wrapping and all, with all the other ingredients. It's then dried to a consistency of sawdust. This is for pig feed and you can still see bits of plastic all through it. Absolutely disgusting. They eat the plastic, we eat them. Meanwhile we are worried about our plastic water bottles.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago
Newborn babies apparently have micro plastics inside them.
reuben kift 1 week ago
Don't know why you were down voted, a quick Google search confirms this to be true.
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Mel in Georgia 6 days ago
Recently read that many popular toilet paper brands have forever chemicals in them - wondered if that may be the cause of the uprise of young people getting colon cancer? Our luxurious lives are definitely endangering us and have been for a long time despite our medical miracles of treatment.
#19
Society is actively doing what every robot uprising story tells us not to do.
Luke || Kira (he/she) 1 week ago
Building the Torment Nexus from the acclaimed sci-fi novel "Don't Create the Torment Nexus"
Chich the witch 6 days ago
Yeah, but like that comic says "Yes, the planet got destroyed. But for a beautiful moment in time we created a lot of value for shareholders."
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago (edited)
What, creating Artificial Idiots? Plenty of natural ones, don't worry.
A study published by Peleskova et al. (2024) shows that “the strongest fear is triggered by modern threats (electricity, car accidents), while the highest disgust is evoked by ancient threats (body waste products, worms, etc.)”. It proves that fear is deeply rooted in survival mechanisms.
Thinking about our mortality or the unknown universe is scary but experts say that we need to recognize which of these thoughts are important and which ones can quickly turn harmful.
As psychiatrist Alex Dimitriu, MD, puts it, “imagination is a super‑power, until it goes dark” and truly some of the facts here have the power to flip that switch.
#20
When you drown, it takes 5 days for the gases to buildup for you to float to the surface.
Wear your life jacket.
Rick Murray 1 week ago
It takes 3-7 days and depends upon the type of water, the temperature, and a bunch of other things. If you die in ice water, you may be down for weeks because the bacterial action will be very slow due to the cold. Once you're up, different bacteria, and insects, can start feasting on the bloated body. Eventually it will either rupture or too much of the internal gasses will escape in a less dramatic way, and back down you go. This process may repeat until the body is too putrefied to be able to store enough gas to float. Then down you'll stay.
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago (edited)
Why should it matter if I've drowned? It's more important before I drown!
#21
The moon is moving AWAY from the earth at around the same speed that fingernails grow.
Luke || Kira (he/she) 1 week ago
There'll be a day where we'll have to ram something into her to prevent her from escaping
Randal Leeson 4 days ago (edited)
The energy to make the moon move to a higher orbit comes from the earth's daily rotation, making each rotation a tiny bit longer than the previous. Eventually, the earth will be tidally locked to the moon, and each rotation will be one lunar month long. When this happens, the moon will stop getting further away.
#22
As the air quality decreases so will cognitive function. This is already observable in poorly vented offices.
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago
Get outside and get some fresh air. Better, see some countryside. I'm amazed at how little wilderness people realise is out here. So much more vast than all the cities!
JL 6 days ago
Not sure how true this is. Some people go out golfing seemingly every weekend and their cognitive function continues to plummet.
Load More Replies... #23
We’re much closer to running out of drinkable water than anyone seems to act like.
Luke || Kira (he/she) 1 week ago
Yeah, so make sure you use ChatGPT for every stupid thing and generate lots of images of your AI waifu in lingerie ✌️
Mark Karol-Chik 6 days ago
-and do not forget that fracking is a huge waste of water.
Load More Replies... martin734 1 week ago
Not really. The amount of water on earth hasn't changed since the dinosaurs were around and all of it is drinkable if treated. Water treatment plants are being built all the time and they are becoming cheaper and more efficient. Israel for example is a very dry country that actually produces a surplus of water via desalination and recycling 90% of it's waste water. Many other countries are beginning to catch up as well.
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago (edited)
I'm not. I drink the water off my roof. Almost all dwellings have enough water fall on them for the inhabitants to use, let alone drink. It just needs to be stored. (I have 25k litres, but should have 3 or 4 times that)
Becky Samuel 6 days ago
Untreated rainwater is not considered safe for drinking without treatment.
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I am the rat in your walls 1 week ago
problem is if the rain s***s the undrinkable water up
Load More Replies... #24
The human body replaces its skin monthly. You have about 1,000 new sets of skin in your lifetime.
Ace 1 week ago
No, not monthly, it's a constant process. Ridiculous to talk about new sets of skin as if it all pealed off and was replaced in one go.
Chich the witch 6 days ago
OK, if that is the case then why is my "new" skin getting wrinkly as the years go on? I want to speak with a manager!!! :p
#25
If you develop dementia one day, there will be a day that will be the last day that you don’t have it, but you won’t know it, ever.
Em Watson 1 week ago
My dad has Alzheimer's, and it progressed so quickly. This time last year, he was home with his family. Now he is in a nursing home and has no idea who we are. It's absolutely heart breaking.
Out of chocolate 1 week ago
Fun fact. Dementia (along with several other neurodegenerative diseases) start way before you or anyone else notices them. Your brain is so good at filling in gaps that it can go undiagnosed for years before your brain can no longer keep up. It can start as early as your forties and not be a problem until your sixties.
Mel in Georgia 6 days ago
My brilliant mom masked her dementia very well and even when a neurologist looked at her brain scan she wondered how she was functioning so well. She was herself, albeit diminished, until her end. She kept socially and mentally engaged all of her life. I think that's why. Man, I miss her.
Load More Replies... Emilu 6 days ago
Dementia is one example to me of how there is no God. No God would create such an evil, insidious disease.
WalterWhiteSavannah 6 days ago
That and as I mentioned above some people live for far far too long after they should have been able to die. Tell me what God allows a woman to live to 101 when her whole life is terror and pain and her body is falling apart but refusing to just let go.
Load More Replies... UnclePanda 1 week ago
I worked with dementia patients, and their families, for a long time. My experience was the Alzheimer's victim is very upset about their loss of function up to a point, and then they pick a favorite chair, sit down, and never really come back up again. For the family, it's a long hard road to that moment, and then they see all of their fears realized. The only real mercy is that that final trajectory is fairly swift and less eventful than the lead up.
WalterWhiteSavannah 6 days ago
I've worked in longterm care for 3.5 years now (not super long I know) but I'm my experience that's very dependent on the person. Some just roll with it and manage to enjoy life again - others are in a nesr constant state of panic and anxiety and fear and confusion. Also I've seen that final trajectory last months and months and be truly beyond horrific. Dying quickly doesn't scare me at all - living in fear and agony with zero quality of life terrifies me.
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#26
Where I live, you might die a horrible death after being tortured just because you were at the wrong place at the wrong time, and your body would just disappear, your family would not see you ever again, and the government would do nothing about it, but take your death just for the statistics and blame it to past administrations.
And to make things worse, if your family try to push your case, even if it's just to find your body for proper burial, they might get k****d too.
It's a horrible thing.
David Paterson 1 week ago
This isn't talked about enough. The web has more politically motivated misinformation on the countries in which this happens than reliable information.
#27
Babies cry in the womb. We have observed through ultrasound all the classic signs of crying like heaving chests, quivering lips, opening mouths. All the movements made when a baby cries, but it cant because their lungs are full of fluid.
Also babies are covered in a fine hair called Lanugo that is shed before and sometimes after birth. At the same time, the digestive system starts working some time around 7 months. Know what the baby eats and drinks? That's right, amniotic fluid and it's own body hair. Where does all that go? It pisses and s***s back into the amniotic sack, only to drink and eat all that again.
Also it's *Loud* in the womb. Not only does sound transfer way better in fluid than it does air, but the late-term uterus is pretty close to the heart.
So for a couple months before you were born you were trapped in a pitch black fluid prison, screaming silently, drinking your own p**s, eating your own s**t, and the entire time it sounded like someone was trying to beat down the door 24/7.
The miracle of life yall.
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago (edited)
Some babies don't. My son was born without his oesophagus connected, so didn't. I'll let him know the good news. (he was fixed, survived, and has his own child now 😁)
Luke || Kira (he/she) 1 week ago
Imagine there was some actual sound attached to that. You're hanging out with a pregnant person and suddenly you're interrupted by this horrific muffled screeching.
Becky Samuel 6 days ago
Babies do not pòop continuously in the womb. Sometimes they will release their first póop (meconium) during labour, and it can cause all sorts of medical issues. This factoid is nonsense,
#28
There’s nuance to this, so I’m just going to post what I was told.
Your eyes and your body have two separate immune systems. They both have no idea the other exists. If your body finds out you have eyes, it will attack them as if they are foreign objects.
That, and a solar flare could cook us at nearly every moment.
Stardust she/her 1 week ago
False. Both of the points are vastly oversimplified. Our eyes, gonads, placenta etc have immune privilege which means that these structures are allowed to deal with antigens on their own without the need for an inflammatory response as such responses in these areas can be severely damaging or even life threatening. If our immune system tries to fight there, it just gets told to stop by the organ. For the solarflare section, we have a 92 million mile buffer between us and the sun so we have at least a few hours to a few days to prepare for even the worst of solar storms. Check out my comment above on this post on solar flares
Sue User 1 week ago
Thanks for clarify. I feel most of these posts are oversimplifications.
Load More Replies... reuben kift 1 week ago (edited)
I posted this 'fact' as a comment a while back and it turned out to be false. Credit: Just_Lurking, the other bored panda who corrected me.
#29
There is an unbroken chain of evolution and successful reproduction extending from the very first form of life right up to you.
If you don't have kids, that chain ends with you.
I'm 35 and no kids. I'm letting the Saccorhytus down.
UnclePanda 1 week ago
I think you can explain most of human existence, from amoeba to homeowners insurance, as a long and protracted struggle to avoid daily contact with cold wet mud.
David Paterson 1 week ago
A human being is just a single celled parasite that uses as adult body to reproduce.
Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het 1 week ago (edited)
Life is a very complicated and on going chemical chain reaction.
#30
Due to electromagnetic repulsion nothing ever touches anything else.
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago (edited)
And yet I got downvoted for pointing that out. Go figure. Oh, btw, it occasionally does. The results are often cataclysmic.
UnclePanda 1 week ago (edited)
Come here a minute... [sounds of a noogie ensue.] You sure about that?
#31
That time doesn't slow down. So the moments we waste, we never get back.
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago
I'm afraid it definitely does. In the presence of gravity, or at significant speeds, time does indeed slow down. Sorry to burst your bubble. Time is NOT immutable.
Stardust she/her 1 week ago
But then again, it’s not like we’d notice time slowing down if we’re the ones near the blackhole. Our friends outside its gravitational influence might
Load More Replies... Rick Murray 1 week ago
Moments we waste, we never get back... [is reading BP because this panda is bored]
Child of the Stars 6 days ago
How long a minute is depends entirely on which side of the bathroom door you're standing.
Load More Replies... #32
Money is just a series of text files exchanged between financial institutions a few times a day through ftp style gets and pushes.
Merry Grinchmas from Grumpy 6 days ago
I used to use an emergency $20 as a bookmark overseas.
Load More Replies... 
While some of these facts may shock us and others might fade from memory, they might also open a door to wonder. Realizing we are a part of this big beautiful Universe, and confronting these truths, can give us a deeper sense of meaning.
As Dr Jesse Preston, Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Warwick, believes: "Science can be a powerful source of awe and wonder for many… It can foster a sense of connection to others and our place in the world.”
#33
Nobody experiences true reality. We experience a story that our brain has invented a split second after true reality happens.
If those signals were produced some other way - dream, simulation, hallucinations, or misfiring neurons - you would have no method to detect it.
Rick Murray 1 week ago
And most of what you see is a fabrication that the brain stitches together from glimpses that it gets as your eyes flit around naturally. Want to know how mindscrewy it is? Print out and do the blind spot test. Now print a simple geometric pattern, like wavy lines, over top of that and try it again. The test spot will vanish, but the pattern won't. Your brain is filling in missing part of the pattern. That's how you don't notice a sizeable empty patch in your vision.
#34
What collapsed lungs are and how they can happen at total random.
UKDeek 1 week ago
Pneumothorax (collapsed lung) can occur spontaneously, and is more common in tall, thin young men.
Child of the Stars 6 days ago
My grandpa had some heavy farm machinery fall on his chest as a teenager (this would've been in the 40s). It permanently collapsed part of one lung, and he had breathing problems the rest of his life.
Ermes of Endearment 6 days ago
My son was born at just over 40 weeks, and long story short, inhaled a lot of meconium just before birth. He ended up with a pneumothorax when they cleared his lungs, but made a full recovery after spending 7 days in the NICU. As far as we know, anyway. He’s only six now, and I can’t help but worry it’ll affect him later on and he’ll collapse running across a field one day.
#35
You are never 100% safe. Even if the danger is an extreme one, it could still happen. You're not safe in you're bed, in your house, at your work, nowhere. You will never be 100% safe.
Lotekguy 6 days ago
Watch out, dude! There's a gang of emus right behind you.
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Ian Webling 1 week ago
"You're not safe in you're* bed, in your house, at your work, nowhere." So close.
#36
One day you Will wake up and get dressed not knowing was the clothes you're going to die in that day.
Luke || Kira (he/she) 1 week ago
So if just decide to stay naked all the time, I'll be functionally immortal (and also in prison)
Lotekguy 6 days ago
No. That just means your birthday suit would be the same as your death day suit. But probably a lot more wrinkled.
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Chich the witch 6 days ago
Was a FF and saw many people on the last day of their lives which I am sure was as much as a surprise to them as everyone they knew
#37
My dog will die before I do :-(.
David Paterson 6 days ago
For several people I know, it is touch and go whether the pets will die before their owners or the other way around.
Moxitron Jazz 3 days ago
I know this is all existentially intriguing, but don't make us think of such awful things...
#38
There are millions of tiny microscopic bugs that are crawling over your skin. They're always there so you leave a lot on the pillow while sleeping. That means you put your face on a graveyard of dead bugs and your skin bits. Since I know this I change my sheets way more regular than before.
Lukas (he/him, it/its) 1 week ago
Lmao BP, what happened to the link under this entry? (screenshot below in hidden comment in case they fix it)
UnclePanda 1 week ago
It might have been here on BP that someone once managed to post a JPEG as a massive block of text characters. It was so large it took the site administrators a few days to take it down. Their tools weren't designed for a problem of that scale.
Bi.Felicia 1 week ago
Apparently Sam Droege has excellent technical form on stacking. Sam can be contacted at the USGS Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab. It's been over an hour since Lukas commented about this entry and it still hasn't been fixed.
#39
Herons eat ducks. I learned that in a kids’ movie last year, and for some reason it traumatized me—a supposedly full-grown adult on paper.
Detroit Citizen 1 week ago (edited)
WHAAAT??? Nooooo. Now ive seen a turtle pull ducklings under water for, uh, well... Geese attack ducks, swans attack geese for attacking ducks. Not the herons smh. I like ducks. Mallards, the green band is so pretty. Source: I worked at a private country club for a decade that was surrounded by a nature reserve/park. Im a little sadder now. Fun unrelated thing: Duck quacks dont echo. And iykyk about their reproduction tools lol I also befriended a small type hawk (about the size, slightly bigger than a crow) at said C.C., saved it from being run over as a baby with my mower. Every so often Id be driving my mower down that wooded path for grounds crew (out of sight from the club members) my little hawk buddy would drop "gifts" in front of me. And squawk so id know. Id would also see him (?) perched on a branch that went over that path, waiting for me. I traveled that path daily around the same time each day (we had an order to what and when we mowed. I did fairways so it was daily in the am, i had a route so to say. To be honest it was like serene, a truly wild animal bonded with me, i miss the hawk far more than the job
#40
If I live as long as my Dad did, I've only 19 years left to live.
rustyscate 4 days ago
If I lived as long as my mother I would be dead for the last five years.
Rick Murray 1 week ago
Me too, if I live as long as my mom. I'm already something like +20 over my father though, so swings and roundabouts.
Michael Largey 6 days ago
I beat the family record for male longevity more than 20 years ago.
Load More Replies... #41
Women can and do have heart attacks without ever knowing or showing symptoms.
#42
Things aren’t on fire. Fire is on things.
David Paterson 1 week ago
Clever. Fire has two stages - pyrolysis and combustion. Pyrolysis is the breakdown of chemicals by heat into flammable gases. Combustion is the burning of those gases. It isn't the things that are on fire, it's the flammable gases released by those things.
#43
Prions exist. Basically, they’re a messed up protein that causes other proteins to fold wrong, which is fatal. I don’t know the science- just that prions are terrifying. That’s what caused the “Mad Cow” disease back in like the late 90s? Over in the UK. I learned about prions then as a kid and been scared since.
Auntriarch 6 days ago
Prions are not a messed up protein, a couple of them cause nasty diseases, but others are useful and necessary, to organisms as different as yeasts and mammals, where a type of prion is used by neurons to establish long term memory.
#44
That we're alone in the universe.
Michael Largey 6 days ago
There are two equally challenging possibilities - either we are alone in the universe or we are not.
Rick Murray 6 days ago
No, we aren't. But we might as well think we are because space is large to the point where *any* imaginable frame of reference is useless to describe how big.
Norfolk and good 1 week ago
Most scientists agree that it's unlikely we're alone in the universe. Whether or not we'll ever make contact is another story.
Luke || Kira (he/she) 1 week ago
I suspect the same Big Thinker™ who said there's no afterlife with 100% certainty
Michael Largey 6 days ago
Or a different Big Thinker™ who said there is an afterlife with 100% certainty
Load More Replies... Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago
Not at all necessarily. But we won't be able to communicate for centuries at best unless we first find a faster method.
Awenpotato 1 week ago
Most likely not, unless you only count 'us' as other beings of equal intelligence
#45
In 1859 a solar storm hit the earth with so much power it sent sparks through telegraph wires. The next one, and there will eventually be a next one, will fry most of our infrastructure.
But hey good news, we may not live to see if. If a single biologist on this planet figures out how to make harmful "left handed" microbes (microbes that are identical to existing ones but with proteins facing the opposite direction) it will probably wipe out all life on the planet because absolutely nothing is adapted to deal with it.
Stardust she/her 1 week ago
Well I have stuff to say. About the first point, yes it’s true that such a strong solar storm will destroy most of our infrastructure and send us back many generations but that’s only if our engineers and scientists are stupid people who ignore warning signs. And the chances of another Carrington event occuring is around 12% per decade (over time adds up to 64% in 50 years) so the smart people are generally prepared for such situations as satellites can be placed in ‘safe mode’ while on earth the electric grids can be prepared once the scientists detect these events. About the second point, OP has vastly oversimplified the concept of chirality and the potential risks of creating mirrored life. They’ve misunderstood it to the point where I don’t even know where to start. Reddit is not a place to get a lesson on chirality and biochemistry
Sue User 1 week ago
Can you help me understand your comment about 12% chance per decade adding up to64 % in 50 years ?I don't think probability works that way.
Load More Replies... #46
My solution to the Fermi Paradox ("so where are all the aliens?"). Its much more likely by probability that aliens have not just already come to earth but have already colonized it if they were intelligent enough to have the technology to do so, than they haven't, we just aren't aware.
GenuineJen 1 week ago
My favorite theory is that the call is coming from inside the house. We know so little about our oceans. The possibility that extraterrestrials have found that environment habitable or adapted to living deep in our oceans is an interesting idea.
Stardust she/her 1 week ago
How would they even know we existed before they came to out solar system? Our radiowaves haven’t even crossed 200 lightyears and even that is nothing to our galaxy with a diameter of 100,000 light years. Maybe they’d know that earth has life just based on whatever they can interpret from atmospheric phenomena but they can’t confirm if our life is multicellular, intelligent etc. The distances between stars is also so vast that even light takes literal years to traverse that distance
WindySwede 6 days ago
maybe they hade 'transwarp' and can travel around the galaxy in a minute? and maybe they observe us like the robot animals on BBC nature programs? Or maybe not, who knows? 🙃
Load More Replies... UnclePanda 1 week ago
The comedian's corollary to Fermi's paradox - If the aliens are bright enough to discover interstellar travel, how do they always miss London, Beijing, the entire US East Coast, etc., and wind up talking to Cletus on a dark backroad in Arkansas?
Apatheist 6 days ago
To be fair, when we find landed on Mars, it was in the flattest, most boring landscape that we could find, to ensure the best chance of a safe landing. The salient point with all this is that the first contact would be electromagnetic and scientific, not a physical space ship.
Load More Replies... Zig Zag Wanderer 1 week ago (edited)
Absolute twaddle. The most likely reason is unimaginable distances, extremely slow (relatively) travel, of even signals, and the infinitesimally small amount of time LIFE has existed here, let alone HUMANS. Forget about civilization! Some people think we're so important, it's funny.
Sue User 6 days ago
I always wonder why people think life advanced at a faster rate elsewhere.
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Kim Kermes 3 days ago
I think the aliens have Earth in a quarantine zone and UFOs are extraterrestrial frat hazing
Karen Heiner 3 days ago
You’d rather believe that aliens have colonized the earth with not one shred of evidence than believe that there is a creator for which there is plenty of evidence.
Randal Leeson 4 days ago
The most likely explanation for the Fermi Paradox is that there are no other technological civilizations in the Milky Way galaxy. Drakes equation grossly overestimates the number of planets with intelligent life due to ignoring the gigantic amount of time the planet's environment must remain stable for intelligent life to evolve. It took something like 4 billion years on earth.
Chich the witch 6 days ago
if we've been found they are likely just keeping an eye on us. We are free to look around our own system but will not be allowed out, apart from probes like Voyager until we get past the greedy monkey stage. All those failed Mars missions, just enough to keep us trying but not enough to discourage us. My theory and I'm sticking to it :p
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Merry Grinchmas from Grumpy 6 days ago
Desire is the root of all suffering
Load More Replies... David Paterson 6 days ago
I can think of plenty more scary-horrifying scientific facts. For instance, deadly recessive mutations are building up unseen in the human population at a rate of about one new deadly mutation per person. For instance, the next large natural extinction event will k**l off all the dolphins and whales, even if humans survive. For instance, all humans live on the boundary between sanity and madness, it doesn't take much to push us over the edge.
Merry Grinchmas from Grumpy 6 days ago
Desire is the root of all suffering
Load More Replies... David Paterson 6 days ago
I can think of plenty more scary-horrifying scientific facts. For instance, deadly recessive mutations are building up unseen in the human population at a rate of about one new deadly mutation per person. For instance, the next large natural extinction event will k**l off all the dolphins and whales, even if humans survive. For instance, all humans live on the boundary between sanity and madness, it doesn't take much to push us over the edge.
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